Her hit single Crazy in Love, with Jay-Z, was named best R&B song and best rap/sung collaboration.

"Wow. This is unbelievable," she said. "Performing was enough for me. I'm just so honoured."

The Destiny's Child star joined Prince on stage to sing Purple Rain, to mark the 20th anniversary of his song and film.

And Beyonce shared best vocal R&B performance by a duo or group with Vandross for their collaboration on The Closer I Get To You.

Vandross also won one of the main prizes, song of the year, for Dance With My Father. He was also awarded best male R&B vocal performance and best R&B album.

A video message from the soul singer was shown - during which he sang a line of a tribute as it was performed by Alicia Keys, Celine Dion and Richard Marx.

GRAMMYS 2004 BIG WINNERS

Beyonce - 5 awards

Luther Vandross - 4

OutKast (above) - 3

Alison Krauss - 3

Another tribute marked the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' invasion of America, and was performed by Sting, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes who also won the best producer award.

The Beatles were given the President's Award, which was accepted by John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison's widow Olivia.

Ono said if Lennon were still alive he would: "Say it again, 'come together, give peace a chance and love is all we need.'"

The surviving band members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr joined the party by satellite link from London.

OutKast - who have dominated the US charts for the last two months - won best album, best rap album and best urban/alternative performance.

Justin Timberlake picked up prizes for male pop vocal and pop vocal album - and used his acceptance speech to apologise for last week's performance with Janet Jackson that scandalised America.

He ripped Jackson's outfit to reveal a breast during the half-time show at the Super Bowl - sparking 200,000 complaints.

This is officially the greatest moment of my life

Justin Timberlake

"I know it's been a rough week on everybody," he said. "And what occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable and I apologise if you guys were offended."

But, referring to the awards, he continued: "This is officially the greatest moment of my life. Thank
you."

Detroit rock group also The White Stripes won two awards - best rock song for Seven Nation Army and best alternative album for Elephant.

Eminem's song Lose Yourself won him the best rap song and best male rap solo performance accolades.

And goth-rockers Evanescence added the best newcomer crown to the award for best hard rock performance.

They provided one of the surprises of the night by beating big-selling rapper 50 Cent in the newcomer category - but that did not stop 50 Cent getting on stage with them as they accepted their trophy.

Christina Aguilera was among the other performers

Johnny Cash and wife June Carter Cash - who both died during the last nine months - were also honoured.

Cash won the prize for best short-form video for his single Hurt, while his wife won two prizes for her final album.

George Harrison and modern folk star Warren Zevon also got posthumous honours.

Ex-US President Bill Clinton shared the award for best spoken word album for children with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and actress Sophia Loren.

They all read on Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Beintus: Wolf Tracks - but were not present to pick up the prize.

The Grammys are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.